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Strengthening Democracy

A collection of 51 issues

A Few Quick Actions for a Better Country

One morning, a friend and I were walking our dogs in the park. On the path up ahead, there was a woman holding a tangle of something in her hands. As she got closer, I saw it was a bunch of bittersweet, a super invasive that strangles trees to death

Democracy Is Hiring! You’d Be Perfect

I knew a woman who didn’t like lemonade much. But she wouldn’t - she couldn’t - drive by a lemonade stand without stopping. She’d buy a few wax cups, usually Country Time Lemonade or Minute Made Lemonade from concentrate, and glug it down enthusiastically. BEST I’

Useful Things to Know About Our Politicians

When Lyndon Johnson first became a Senator, he spent hours sitting in the Senate chamber watching the floor action. The Texan – who would go on to become one of history’s most powerful Senate Majority Leaders, who would muscle through the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, the creation

The Secret Sauce to Changing Policy

While Michigan Congressman John Dingell might not be a big name in most households, his work touched nearly every person in this country. The Dearborn-area legislator got some of the most high impact legislation of the late 20th and early 21st century across the finish line, including Medicare, the Clean

Where to Find Power When It Feels Like You Don’t Have Any

A business mentor of mine always advised to go where there isn’t much traffic. If everyone’s online, be in person. If everyone’s doing hot takes, wait a beat or six to discern where you stand. If everyone’s at 101 degrees, be the shade that helps brings

An Easy Thing We Can Do For Each Other Right Now

At the play on Saturday evening, the man wearing a guayabera shirt sits in the front row. After the jokes, he laughs the loudest. After the songs, he's the first to cheer. And after the grand finale, he starts the standing O. The man just turbocharged love to

What Motivates Us in Hard Moments

I once heard a wildly successful athlete say that you can be motivated by one of two things: fear or love. I'd piggy back on to that – the first can get you pretty far, pretty fast. But the second will sustain you. Fear is the flashy, attention-getting hare;

Setting the Right Goals for Democracy

There is old tape of Andre Agassi returning Pete Sampras' serve. Sampras pounds the ball down the middle, and Agassi whips it cross court, leaving Sampras to watch the ball fuzz fly by. Before Agassi, the return of serve was pure defense: block the ball back, a prayer to

The Power We're Leaving on the Table

I returned home from Wichita. But my baggage did not. Hours were spent with hold muzak and kind, fairly powerless customer service agents. What I needed was someone on the inside. Someone with the heft to get the train moving. The thing with American democracy is that we get to

Three Things We Can Do for America Right Now

Years ago, I helped a friend move. After we'd gotten all the boxes, crates, bins, and coat hangers into his new place, he stood immobile at the door, paralyzed by where to begin. It was impossible to imagine this chaos ever becoming a comfortable little corner of the